Vancouver Community Network
Board Meeting Minutes - November 30, 1999
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Vancouver Community Network, Board
of Directors, held on Tuesday, November 30, 1999 at 6:30 P.M. in the
Boardroom, 411 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC.
Present: Alison Curtis, Steve Forrest, Lyle Gardiner, Penny Goldsmith,
Sujay Nazareth, Jonn Olldym, Greg Sturk
Staff: Jason Currell, Carolyn Nantais
Absent: Michael Gurstein, Suzanne Klinga, Sadia Ramirez, Richard Smith,
Richard Songhurst.
Chair: Greg Sturk Secretary: Sujay Nazareth
1. Adoption of the Agenda, M/S/C.
2. Minutes of the October 27, 1999 meeting accepted, with corrections
noted and made, M/S/C.
3. Staffing Update:
Due to Peter being away on sick leave, and the general lack of manpower in
the office during December we've hired Rod Claper to work in the office
for that period. Jason recommends hiring a full-time, or at least a
part-time Help Desk Coordinator to help in coordinating the help desk and
the volunteers as well.
Motion to give Steven Chan the Root Password, while Jason is away, so that
he can attend to the system if the need arises M/S/C.
4. System Administrator's Report
We now have a proper backup in place. A power upgrade has been ordered for
the server room. The Upgrade costs $250. Once the Upgrade is complete, our
new UPS can be plugged in securing the system in case of power
outages/spikes. The new UPS will automatically power down the systems
properly, in the event of an outage, and power them back up once power is
restored, without manual intervention. Sprint has donated 20 Pentium 75Mhz
computers. We will be doing an upgrade on the systems, in the office, and
giving them to some of the organizations involved with the Volnet project
at a lower cost than some of the refurbished computers. Ford Canada may
also be donating some systems to us. It was decided that we should put a
Thank You message on VCN's front screen thanking Sprint for the donation
of these systems. Steve suggested contacting Paul Hunt at VCC for some
more used systems. We have temporarily taken it over Jack's office adding
an additional $75 to our monthly rent.
5. Major Project reports
In Peter's absence, Terri Kennedy will be in contact with Industry Canada.
A conversation with Industry Canada indicated that they were very happy
with VCN and were all praises for us. They have also asked us to do an
analysis of HOTLINE. Penny suggested that we provide Industry Canada with
some acceptable alternatives like list-serve instead of HOTLINE. It was
decided that we should also inform Industry Canada that Corel Suite will
not be usable with the refurbished systems that some of the Volnet
organizations have received.
Industry Canada has asked us what VCN needs to better it's services. A
proposal has been submitted to them to increase or phone line capacity as
well as getting a new server.
Steven Chan has been contracted to work on the Vancouver Foundation &
Community Learning Networks projects. Penny and Steven interviewed people
for two short-term assistant positions.
With input from Peter, Margaret and Steven, Carolyn is working on a grant
application from the city of Vancouver.
There was a motion to thank all the staff for pulling together and
managing all the projects in Peter's absence. M/S/C
7. Treasurer's Position
a) Jonn is considering taking over as Treasurer. He will let the board
know as soon as he has made his decision.
b) It was noted that VCN currently has $169,633 in current assets as of
31st October 1999.
c) Motion to approve Greg Sturk, Allison Curtis and Steve Forrest as
signors on VCN's account. M/S/C
8. Committees
A brief discussion took place on which board members would be attached to
various committees. It was decided in depth conversation on these
committees and their goals will take place at the annual retreat.
9. Important Dates
Volunteer appreciation day will be held on Wednesday 29th of December from
4:30-6:30 at the VCN office. There will be no board meeting in December.
The annual board retreat will be held on the 22nd of January. The retreat
will take place from 10:00-2:30 followed by the board meeting from
2:30-3:30. There is a possibility that the board meetings will be held on
the 4th Thursday of every month instead of the 4th Tuesday of every month.
10. Other Business
VCN will be having a community outreach presence at the Kennedy Heights
Swap Meet in Surrey on December 12th.
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM